I do not know the exact origin of the concept and who first suggested it. My guess is the West, because every time I talk to the Canadian government officials about Somaliland, their response is, it is an internal matter the and two entities Somaliland and Somalia have to resolve it themselves.
When we reclaimed our independence from Somalia after the brutal civil war in Buroa in !991, Somaliland was like a patient brought to the trauma unit. Every limb was broken and his body was mangled, he was traumatized and was in dire need of immediate treatment. The first president stabilized the patient and started looking at how to deal with the problem at hand. His diagnosis was not good and the patient was in and out of coma. He then gave up and handed the patient to the specialist. The second president diagnosed him correctly and started fixing the broken limbs and the patient came out of the coma and started recovering. When the patient recovered he sent him to physiotherapy and the patient started walking and was on his way to full recovery.
The president then started doing other things like dismantling the militia, building police force, armed forces and the basics of government structures, like the constitution and son and so forth, he did not pay too much attention to recognition even though he did something in order to get some funding to build the institutions of the government. Unfortunately while he was busy with this he passed away.
Then comes the third president who carried on the work in progress and did his best to keep the country together in peace and harmony. He with stroke of luck or brilliance appointed a competent, brilliant, well-traveled, fluent in many languages and hardworking and a lady to boot which unheard of in our society as his foreign minister. She went to work right away and started traveling everywhere to sell Somaliland cause and I might add almost succeeded. She started with our neighbors and with AU and to the privacies. The biggest catch was South Africa that almost recognized us. Then she was gone. I do not know why, may be overworked, maybe discouraged; maybe she wanted to concentrate on other important projects she was working on like Edna Hospital.
Then the third president lost power and handed it over gracefully to the forth president. The fourth was gun ho and wanted to do things his way which is understandable. He abandoned the policy of the third and started sending his foreign minister on world whirl tours to no avail. The parliament then passed a law that talking to Somalia is treasonous and you could go to jail for that. I might be wrong here it might be the third president who did that. Anyway that was the norm and the law of the land.
Now comes the interesting part after all the background talk. That law was amended and paved the way for talking with our neighbor in Somalia. Then hell broke loose. The current government start appointing representatives in different countries, I do not know whether is it was by clan or competence. Either way they were not given the prober tools to work with. The government never hired lobbyists, they thought it was too expensive, even though they were spending more money in travels and other entertainments. They should have in the first place appointed professionals and not single mothers who are to busy with their children. Any case that did not any good in many regions, and the consequences can be felt today.
First in London then in Dubai and now they are in Istanbul. The problem with that is our government thinks we have historical ties with Turkey and they will be neutral in the negotiations, wrong, Turkey has more interest in Somalia then Somaliland, and another thing Turkey is carrying a baggage of the Kurd region which wants to separate from Turkey bingo which side you think they will be on. Then recently in Djabuti they Somaliland brought in another player Djabuti president, wrong again. They think Djabuti is a friend of Somaliland, maybe but do not forget that countries do not have friends they have interests bingo again. Djabuti’s life line the port and we are competing with them for business, do you think they want to see independent Somaliland not a chance. I heard that Ismail Guild has suggested to Sheikh Hassan of Somalia to include some Somalilanders in the new cabinet. Whether our president accepted that or not I do now know. Do you see that is a set up? Why did Ismail Guild send his soldiers to Somalia to resuscitate the dying patient?
He wants Somalia to be whole again and reap the benefits. He is not doing it because he loves Somalis. He uncle was a good friend of Siad Barre and he was there.
Finally I want to say I am not against talking to Somalia and getting the divorce papers and compensation for the damage they have inflicted on the Somalialnd people. I am being careful what we are getting into. Somalia is not honest about the negotiations look how many times the have already violated the agreements and we have not yet got to the crocs of the issue. What I am afraid of when it comes to the final stage Somaliland will be pushed in a rock and hard place. You know why? there will be three on one side and one single one on one side. Somalia, Djabuti and Turkey on one side and Somaliland alone on one side. What will we do? If we walk away we will be blamed recuing the negotiations and the world will blame us for intransigence and then we be left alone as we are now and if we stay we will be forced to accept the union with cosmetic changes which Somalia at the end will abide by it and god help those who are in power when that happens Somalia will be a child’s plays what happens. I hope it does not come to that and let us in the meantime keep on trucking and knock at every door and hope for the best and god willing we will be lucky and say quoting Martin Luther king Free at last thank god almighty we are free at last
Mohamoud.I.Jama
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada
Email:mohamoud.h.jama@gmail.com
